Every Stitch Considered...except THAT one.
What matters and what doesn't (to *serious collectors*)?
The other day, I'm in the middle of a pretty serious sneaker deal...I've agreed to broker a deal between two bigwigs and, despite what y'all may believe, it can be nerve wracking. It's an expensive pair of shoes...I'm talkin like 5 figures expensive. No note of my commission, but I take this responsibility VERY seriously, so I need to make sure all of my ducks are in a line (yes, pun intended).
So...the shoes come in. And I'm inspecting them, grading them, running them through the TSS algo, trying to note any and all flaws on a DS pair of shoes...then I notice a missed stitch. A single missed stitch. And, as stupid as it sounds, my defensive mode kicks in: "Oh no" I think. Once I disclose this issue, is the (potential) buyer going to back out?
I mean, it's stupid, right? A single missed stitch? But when you've been doing this as long as I've been doing it, you probably know that some buyers are just...different. Some buyers demand perfection. And unfortunately, when it comes to hand-assembled jumbles of textitles and stitching and glue - perfection can be VERY hard to find.
Is it stupid, though, isn't it?
I don't know. When it comes to sneakers as collectibles - I'm not so sure. A single missed stitched can equate to a smudged corner on an MJ Rookie card to some collectors. A single damaged shoelace can and has been the deciding factor between a $12.5k deal and a deal that simply isn't going through...
And this is kinda what grinds my gears about the whole 'authenticity' debate. Like, I get it, if you're not a 'collector' that values things like provenance and authenticity, that's fine - do your thing. But don't ever put yourself in the same bucket of folks that live and breath this stuff like none of that stuff matters.
The thing is, through this whole ‘Sneaker Savant’ journey, I’ve been trying to pinpoint what it is that defines the differences between 'collectors’ and ‘enthusiasts’ and I still don’t have a great answer. I mean, I can (sort of) pinpoint what I think and what I feel, but for the most part - I don’t know if you should even consider ME a serious collector.
Little by little, though, I feel like I’m getting a gauge. But apparently, this is what happens when you develop the grading algorithm before understanding everyones motivations (for collecting).
Anyways….the deal went through, and…to the 'every stitch considered' crowd, I see you.